169 Seconds to Gaming

Thomas Laranjo, Chief Executive Officer of our partner agency Total Media, explains in 169 seconds how gaming works.

Allocation of Gaming platforms
Gaming & eSports

From the influence of Covid-19, weekly playing time has now also doubled to 10 hours according to the digital association Bitkom. As a consequence, sales of video games and consoles are also booming. The games market is now already standing out as one of the big winners of the crisis:  in 2020, around 8.5 billion euros was turned over with computer and video games as well as the associated hardware – 32 per cent more compared to the previous year. With an increase of 1.1 million to currently 17 million players, the console was able to push to second place in the most popular game platforms. However, the Germans’ favourite device for gaming is and remains the smartphone: in total, 22.6 million German citizens reached for their smartphones to play games.

 

Yet, not only playing video and computer games but also watching video games and eSports transmissions has gained in appeal. Meanwhile, the live streaming portal Twitch is recording around 60 per cent more spectators than before the pandemic for German streams. Admittedly, the hype will die down again with increasingly more free time options. Nevertheless, the gaming and e-sports industry will continue to grow at a then higher user level.

The underestimated entertainment giant
Gaming target groups

Even before this boom, gaming and eSports had developed into one of the trending topics in marketing. A gigantic content market with editorial environments, successful influencers and content creators as well as continually growing social media and community platforms has arisen around the video games world. This provides countless links for brands. However, at the same time, from a brand perspective, it is important to understand that gaming is not a “channel” but a form of entertainment around which a unique consumer behaviour has developed.

 

We at Mediaplus define gaming therefore as a distinct media genre that spans many touchpoints and also reaches very different target groups. For, against all expectations, gaming is not only a young medium; on the contrary, the average age of players at 37.4 years old is constantly increasing (2016: 35 years old). In the meantime, the 50- to 69-year-olds make up a third of the gamers (30 per cent).

Attractive target group, challenging marketing
Gender distribution

Of course, games and eSports nevertheless offer perfect opportunities for contact, especially for young people aged between 10 and 29 who are currently only to be reached to a limited extent via conventional media and, in the future, will be even more difficult to reach. According to a study by the gaming analysis company Newzoo, video games are some of the most popular recreational activities of Generation Z. In the process, gaming has even overtaken activities on social media: a quarter of Gen Z’s free time is spent on video games, while 18 per cent is spent on social media and 17 per cent on streaming video content. The same also applies to millennials, for whom video games make up 21 per cent and streaming 19 per cent of their total free time.

Gaming as a marketing environment
Media, Content, Sponsoring

Gaming is an excellent, but also challenging marketing environment

Gaming is competing for time and attention with other media in numerous target groups and is an excellent environment for brands. Attractive target groups, often hard to reach through other means, high levels of message multiplication through strong communities and unique halo effects in an innovative and dynamically growing scene help brands in fulfilling their communication objectives.

 

Marketing in gaming environments can only be successful if a high level of understanding of the market and target groups is connected with the correct strategic media and creative implementation. The market is too complex for experiments and the target groups are challenging.

Launch into gaming and eSports marketing successfully with Mediaplus

With Mediaplus Gaming we have created an interdisciplinary service to be able to advise you on all issues concerning games and eSports marketing. Our experts are not only communication professionals but have also been passionate gamers themselves for many years and therefore know the scene from top to bottom.  

With an extensive range of modular workshops, we will prepare you and your team for all the issues of the gaming scene, from the different gamer target groups to the evaluation of all touchpoints. Together we will work out brand positioning and communication strategies and ensure the smooth implementation of your campaigns – whether in display and moving image environments, influencer promotions or eSports sponsoring.

SERVICE TYPE

In interactive workshops we bring you up to speed on all things Gaming & eSports:

•             Fascination and inspiration

•             Touchpoints

•             Target Groups

•             Brand fit and messaging

We develop a fitting Gaming and eSports brand strategy and communication concepts.

•             Communication and brand strategy

•             Media strategy and planning

•             Influencer and content strategy

•             Sponsoring strategy

We take care of the integrated and seamless execution of your Gaming and eSports campaigns

•             Developing ideas and creative assets

•             Execution of media, content and influencer campaigns

•             Pre-testing and campaign impact

Teaser presentation

Learn more about gaming and eSports in marketing here.

 

 

Offer

Are you considering becoming active in the gaming and/or eSports sectors or have you already had some initial experience? Then we look forward to speaking to you about the opportunities and challenges in this topic area.

We will provide you with a non-binding first exchange on target groups, touchpoints and engagement opportunities in the gaming and eSports sectors. Here we can also discuss further steps: whether modular workshops on games marketing, media strategy or existing specific campaigns in the gaming environment.

Our Gaming experts:

Alexander Turtschan

Alexander Turtschan - Director Digital Accelerator I Mediaplus Group

Alex Turtschan has been working at the House of Communication since 2009 and, as Director Digital Accelerator, advises Mediaplus clients on trend and innovation topics. Since 2019, he has been leading the Mediaplus Digital Trailblazer initiative: a network of young, digital-savvy agency colleagues with the goal of better understanding Gen-Z’s media use, leisure time and consumer behaviour.

Simone Jocham

Simone Jocham - Senior Consultant Innovation I Mediaplus Group

Simone Jocham has been working in planning and strategic consulting for digital media in the Mediaplus Group since 2017 and has been part of the Mediaplus Digital Trailblazer network since its founding in 2019. Within this framework, in addition to influencer projects, she is particularly focused on Gen-Z, what drives this generation and what makes them so special.

 

GenZ

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They are the most important trendsetters of our time: From Gen-Z behaviour, we are already learning today what will be important in marketing in the future. The media use, attitudes and values of people born in 1995 and later influence not only their own consumption, but also the behaviour of subsequent generations - far beyond the Internet. But how do you reach this target group which largely eludes classic media usage patterns?

 

Learn more about GenZ.

 

 

 

Let's get in touch!
Sabine Rössing
Sabine Rössing
Mediaplus
Let's get in touch!

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